Chapter 6:

"You're making too much noise," hissed Loli. Her son glared back at her for answer. He was still salty about the way the whole business with that damned alien had gone. He wanted to kill Jay Mertens, though at the same time he was too terrified of the alien to try.

Chicle hadn't wanted to be bothered with this, though Loli had immediately seen the significance of the wrecked war-machines. There was plenty of tech in these wrecked husks. Rumblings they'd received from spies in Truth Kingdom suggested that there was a complete technical manual stored in the main computer. The job of removing that piece of hardware had gone to her husband. Chicle was too flighty and unreliable to be trusted with it.

Muttering curses, the youth retorted, "these bolts are fused. Why didn't that idiot bribe the guards for a machine that wasn't half-melted?" Loli glared at him. The spies had obviously bribed the man they knew was corruptible. If you tried someone else and failed, then you got nothing. Simple equation, even for her knuckle-headed son.

They had been at this hours already. They had many hours more to go. They had the guards out of the way, but they failed if they attracted notice from anywhere else. Thankfully, the bitter cold this night had driven many citizens indoors. All they need do is stay on topic, secure the parts they needed to work with, and get out of here.

Gumbald finished first, though he'd had a much easier time of it. The interior of the machine wasn't fused into molten slag by the alien man's powers. While he'd needed to remove half the machine's interior to get at the things he needed to access, Loli's husband was able to remove the master computer and its precious data-storage device. That quickly got transferred into the hot little hands of the spy-master's lieutenant. Gumbald then went to work on the motion-control computer secreted further back among the machine's heavy steel legs.

Loli found herself wanting to give up as the time flew by, her fingers grew icy, and the bolts proved just as stubborn as her son feared. The thing that kept her going was that the object in question was a weapon-housing. A machine was nothing without a weapon to arm it, and the spies had been failing to obtain one from Bonnibel's army.

Finally, as the false-dawn colored the sky to their east, Chicle's persistence paid off. As his mother sat shivering, the youth pried open the last cover protecting the wiring harness for the weapon, enabling him to disconnect the thing at last. The laser came free of its housing shortly after. A dozen of Gordon's men rushed into action, snapping together a block and tackle to lower the weapon off the tower and into a cradle on the back of a wagon.

Gumbald appeared with another of the machine's computers under his arm, announcing, "time to go." Sucking at a gash in his hand, Chicle nodded. They'd finished just in time.

The trio clambered down ladders setup inside the ruined tower, reaching the ground floor and the exit as the spies finished building a crate around the weapon. Clambering up on the back of the wagon, the three candy-people huddled next to the laser weapon, with Loli laying her head on her husband's shoulder. At least she tried to.

Keyed-up as he was, Gumbald pushed her away in favor of working on the schematic he'd been creating for his proposed weapon system. Saying nothing to that, Loli leaned back against the bulk of the crate, huddling into her coat against the cold.

On the far side of the world, Kim Kil Wan raised his phone to his ear, whispering, "go." The echoes in his bunker/palace were pretty awful in spite of all his efforts at padding the walls to make the place more comfortable. With his worries about what was going on with Pat, he had to be careful of what she heard.

The words the dog-icorn heard from the phone's speaker were music to his ears. "The warehouse in Orang is waiting," he said. "I've got a ship sitting there at the docks. Take the packages to Taiyang and Fudongzhen, as we discussed." Gordon Wells' idiot agent hemmed and hawed a few moments.

"The Agent Princess has spies snooping around my organization too," Kim growled. "The last thing we want is for him to find out what we're doing. We don't need him knowing that weapon was taken until it's time for us to unveil our trump. Let him continue to think he's got everything sewn up."

Listening to the agent's preening about 'Insight' and their capabilities left Kim rolling his eyes. If their capabilities were so damned good, they wouldn't be resorting to salvaging wrecks to build their army. More to the point, they would have eliminated Finn long before this, leaving Ooo at peace.

"Don't call me unless it's an emergency," Kim rumbled. "I have some matters I have to take care of and people I have to go see. It's best we keep our contacts limited to hide our association a little longer." Nodding to himself, he said, "I'm taking care of Grace. She came west to the Candy Kingdom for that idiotic presser he threw, and I've invited her up to my flat in Peppermint Tower. Right. It'll be quiet. Good night."

Switching his phone off, Kim padded back down to the bedroom he shared with his wife. Pat was sleeping soundly, her back to the door. Sliding under the covers, he lay himself back, his mind on coming conflicts. He'd been dancing around the issue of dealing with his sisters for quite a while now.

His limited foretelling suggested that Viola's fantasy of a kingdom of the dogs was now a greater possibility than it had been for over a century. Unfortunately, that was really all he could see beyond the fact that the Five Pups were the key to the whole business. I don't know who rules the kingdom, he thought. I don't know what my place is, nor do I understand theirs.

He needed Viola's fame as the public face of the venture, but he really needed Charlie's gift with foretelling. It was mad, but he'd often laughed at her fortune-telling hobby. Now, he was the one who needed her skills. This was far more important than a fucking card-wars tournament.

Of course, that brought him into very dangerous territory. This business was eroding some of the taboos he'd established for himself over the years of his life. He'd written off his daughter—his only child. He'd begun making moves to eliminate his business partners from the enterprise one way or another. So, did he have it in him to coerce his sisters to help him? Wrangle as he might with the problem, no answer was forthcoming, and finally the keyed-up mogul drifted off to sleep.

As the sun rose over the Candy Kingdom, Finn woke to the feel of four pair of plush knockers pressed in against him. It was, to coin a phrase, titty-heaven. The only thing that might have been nicer would've been Bronwyn sleeping on top of him. Too bad you don't have time to enjoy it, he thought. Work, as always, was waiting.

Resisting the urge to use the Curse, Finn carefully eased his arms out from under the two girls and sat up. With a yawn, Charlie rumbled, "hang on a minute... at least get a shower and something to eat..." Yawning, Viola turned and sat up on the edge of the bed. "We can use my shower...," she agreed. Well, at least I don't have to flee, he thought.

The time in the shower was at least as nasty as anything he'd had in the past, though his mind kept going back to an unhappy thought. He'd done all three. He'd felt wrong about doing this with Jake's daughters, and now he'd done all three.

No going back now, he thought, as he remembered Viola's words from last night. He was disturbed to realize just how right he'd been about what was going on in the video business, and he wanted to smash Mr. Weissblum. The idea that he was taking care of Viola felt good and disturbing all at once.

When the trio had climbed out of the shower, Finn retrieved the suit that he'd left on Viola's couch, while Charlie went to her room to get dressed. After climbing back into his clothes, Finn returned to Viola's room to find the slender pup putting herself together for the day.

Standing behind her, Finn rested his hands on her bare shoulders, eliciting a shiver from his new girlfriend. "Hey," he said. "Need to say something..." "You're going to talk to me about a bodyguard," Viola sighed.

Finn chuckled, "maybe I was going to say how sexy you looked putting on your bra." "Liar," she laughed.

With a sigh, she said, "I always get protection, when I'm doing a personal appearance, Finn. I don't ride in cabs. I don't take the tram anymore. I... I've had my brush with troubles. I'm going to be alright."

Leaning down, Finn kissed her cheek and whispered, "you do look sexy putting on that bra. Twice the fun..." Breaking contact, the big man turned to go. At the door, he said, "I intend to investigate the video industry. I... understand that some stuff in the business is just that... business. I don't like the abuse." With no further word, he walked out.

When Viola emerged from her room, she found her sister cooking up breakfast, while Finn stood behind her, whispering urgently at her. Wearing a natty mini-dress in pale yellow, Vi strolled over, hips wig-wagging sensually. Finn kissed Charlie's cheek, his eyes flicking to Viola. His brother's daughters were all beautiful and sexy.

"I have to go," Finn rumbled, as Viola stepped into the kitchen. "I'm going to be in the far east, near Sonbong. We'll talk some more, when I'm home again." Sniffing back tears, Charlie turned and threw herself on him, while Finn attempted to kiss the tears away.

Breaking contact, Finn pulled Viola into his arms and kissed her, grabbing that lush bottom of hers and pulling her hard against him. After spending the previous afternoon feeling dirty from her encounter with Weissblum, Viola felt loved and wanted. Unfortunately, the feeling was all too fleeting, as Finn stepped back and went out the door.

Charlie sat down where she was next to the stove and burst into tears, her mascara running down her face in rivulets. Kneeling beside her, Viola hugged her, whispering at her urgently, as she tried to pull out of her sister what was bothering her.

"I'm an idiot," Charlie howled! "He's trying to take care of me, and I keep wanting to fight!" Pushing Viola away, the curvy pup stormed across the living room to her bedroom and slammed the door shut, breakfast forgotten.

For his part, Finn settled into the limo for the ride out to the airfield. It only took moments for the weight to come piling down once more—all the things he had to get done, little and big, plus all his worries about his family.

Glancing at his bodyguard, the big man said, "I want Captain Garcia to organize a special detail. See the Seneschal of the Candy Palace for funds and purchase a house within sight of 1313 Mockingbird Lane. I want surveillance on the home of Ms. Lady Rainicorn. I'll provide a list of persons who're authorized to visit without being checked out. I want surveillance established on Sweet-Tart Towers. Security detail on the floor below the penthouse level. Deep dive on the occupants of all penthouse suites—family and business connections both."

"It'll be done, sir," the bodyguard responded. The King sat staring into space for several moments. Just when it seemed he was finished, the big man declared, "I want a message delivered to a Mr. Harvey Weissblum. He's not to contact Ms. Viola Rainicorn. If he does, he's to be arrested and given three days in the dungeon." "Yes, sire," the bodyguard responded.

Finn subsided, withdrawing into himself as the car rolled out onto the highway. Minutes later, the limo was rolling down the exit ramp, as the airfield came into view. He could hear multiple airships working up their engines as the car rolled up to the gate.

On the far side of town, Fionna Mertens-Petrikov stared out the window of her 'cell' at the world beyond the palace. Having 'come back', she was antsy to get to work after months of fucking off. "You can blame Maja," Drew declared, as she removed the EKG leads from Fionna's ample chest. "All of my tests have shown negative, but she still wants you kept here."

Fionna sighed. The witch had gotten diverted to help the Nine-Tailed Fox with her Save Billy project. The reminder of what her brother was going through made her problems seem not worth complaining about. "Any news about...," she started to say? "No," Drew sighed. "Some Grid-Face peeps reported storms in the area of Stilt-Town. The Red Wind may have been delayed."

The tall doctor surprised a tear going down her patient's cheek. It was a rare show of emotion since the arrival of 'New Fionna'. Spinning the tall girl around, Drew hugged her. "We'll have Bill back to health in no time, Fi," she promised. "It was touch and go, but we didn't lose your mom. We won't lose Bill."

Breaking contact, Fionna sighed, "find the Wolf. He should be home in Wizard City. The family can't afford to have both Bill and I mewed up in the hospital." Drew's jaw came open and her face went hot. Offering her stepmother a smirk, the Bad Bunny remarked, "we haven't been very fair to him. He does good work, but we ask him to fix disasters." Chuckling, the curvy doctor agreed, "ok."

Aboard the airship, Finn walked up behind Roselinen, who stood at the great window at the front of the airship, staring down at the ground far below. Resting his hands on her shoulders, he murmured, "big, isn't it?" Rosie's face whipped around, her expression one of astonishment. "I was just like this, first time Nadia took us up in her ship," he chuckled.

Turning back to the scene far below, she murmured, "it's like... it's like when we would go up to Silk Purse Point and look down on the town... Only it's... everything."

Her daughter, the little jade, was reading a book of all things, rather than looking at this amazing view. Of course Bonnie had seen this before. "Tell you a secret," Finn whispered, as he stroked Rosie's hips, "I still get excited seeing the view." "I'd have thought you got enough last night," Rosie sighed. Frowning over her shoulder, she murmured, "why is it you don't seem to get enough?"

Blushing, Finn said, "well, for one, I'm no longer old as fuck..." Rosie flushed. Neither was she. Honestly, she'd been 'havin' the urge' rather a lot herself. "For the second, nano-bugs," said Finn. That word jogged a memory. She'd heard some of the others talking about little bugs inside Finn's body, but she hadn't understood what that meant.

Resting his chin on her shoulder, the big man told her the story of Princess Suadela's attempt to murder him and Nadia on their way home from Baba Yaga's domain. "My life changed that night in more ways than one," he sighed. For Roselinen, it was a reminder of how much some of her fellows really did love him. So make it work, she thought. He wouldn't be here for you to have a second chance without Breezy, Nadia, and Emeraude.

The airship wended its way across the sky for hours. Rosie was up and down through much of it, checking out that spectacular view as the scenery below changed and changed again. Bonnie continued to read her book, as if none of that mattered. Sitting down beside his daughter, the King of Ooo finally grew curious enough to ponder what his daughter was reading.

Plucking the book from her fingers, he took it up and looked at it. "Korean to Common," Finn burbled. "It's important for a princess to be well-spoken, daddy," Bonnie murmured. Glancing up, she said, "not all of us have magic particles in our blood..." Tweaking her nose, Finn responded, "I could fix that..." Shaking his head, the big man handed her back her book.

Rising, the King returned to the window, where his lady was staring out at the darkness. It did Bonnie's heart good to see them that way. She hadn't seen that level of affection between them in literal decades.

As the ship soared through the sky, the sun began to set, and Rosie returned to her seat. The handsome cyborg who looked after the people in the cabin came through with boxed meals for their supper, just as he had for lunch. An excited Bonnie chatted with him about what he'd provided, and Rosie thought her daughter was smitten with the handsome fellow.

When he'd gone back to his work, the older woman teased Bonnie, "careful, dear, or you really will get injected with nano-bugs." Bonnie put out her tongue at that salacious comment, causing her parents to laugh.

The airship slipped out of a clear, cold night sky to land at the field outside of Sonbong. A cavalcade of carriages and guards were waiting to whisk the Royals from the door of the airship straight to the door of the palace. Lord Seo Joon was waiting on them in the entry.

The Lord offered his master a bow, which Finn returned. Striding forward, the big man embraced his subordinate as a brother. "Your Majesty," the Lord greeted him. "Lord Seo Joon," the King responded. "Are you well?" "Well enough," the Lord chuckled. Gesturing, he said, "I've quarters prepared for you. All is in readiness to begin in the morning."

Standing aside, Finn announced, "this is my wife, Roselinen. Rosie? This is my friend, Lord Seo Joon." The Lord bowed to Rosie, responding, "I'm honored to meet His Majesty's wife." "Second wife," Rosie corrected. Finn grimaced, but Roselinen continued, "be assured that Simone would be here to greet you, if she weren't busy with duties as Grand Master." The Lord bowed again, then asked, "have you eaten?" "Ate on the flight over," Finn responded. Yawning, he admitted, "we probably ought to get to bed..." "Lag," agreed, the Lord. "I'll see you in the morning."

Far to the east, the Red Wind made the final turning through the shoals, easing through the confined water of the Stilt-Town's lake. Around them the town was coming to life, with the first fishermen heading out to set their nets and traps. Billy could see Katherine's town waking up, with lights flickering on, to the distant sound of generators firing to life.

In some ways, this was like coming home. He knew this place, and he had family here, in a way. As the ship negotiated the final bit of wrangling to find a berth, the big man found himself growing anxious. He wanted to get off the ship, and he was ready to fly to do it.

Of course, the very thought of flying just now, when the entity had taken over his body terrified him. A corner of his mind feared the source of his anxious hunger to get off the boat. Was that the entity talking to him? Was he being manipulated into using his powers so the entity could gain control once more?

A shudder went through the big man, and he found himself walking away from the bridge for a moment. He went out to the door opposite the wing where the pilot was working and spent some time staring down into the murk. Another corner of his mind—just as dangerous—had a very mad thought as he stared at the semi-submerged form of a massive gator. He could solve the problem of the Ice Tiara right now. There would be no dangerous entity trying to find the means to destroy Ooo.

Of course, those thoughts were just as awful. He'd be leaving his entire family in the lurch, to say nothing of what that would do to his mom. "Hold it together, Bill," he told himself. "Just hold it together a little longer. Rags is probably working on sending somebody down to get you. You just have to hold it together long enough to see Kate."

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the pirates began dropping lines to the workers on the dock. As Billy watched, the men and women on the wharf hauled on those ropes, pulling them taut before lashing them to the bollards. Shortly thereafter, the Red Wind's crew was lowering the gangway. With the prospect of being off the ship and in the arms of his lady, Billy rushed downstairs to his cabin.

He was stuffing the little bit of gear he'd taken out, when he heard noise at the door. Turning towards his visitor, the big man found Black Cass standing there in the doorway. Said she, "came down t'make sure you're ready. Master at Arms is waiting on you on'a dock."

Billy frowned at the curvy pirate. Those dark eyes burned into his, suggesting this wasn't open to negotiation. "I'm not sure what you...," he started to say. Cass interrupted, "got a lot invested in you." Now he began to see. She was sending him an escort up to Kate's place. Let it go, Bill, he told himself. Stilt-Town wasn't a very nice place, and he was without his powers at the moment. An escort wasn't a bad thing. "I'm ready to go," he muttered.

The journey through Stilt-Town was eerie. On the one hand, he was familiar with the place and its people. If he wasn't exactly comfortable with the claustrophobic feel of the place, with its tight, packed streets, he had gotten used to it. At the same time, there was a feel to the place—like something awful was about to happen. Glob, thought Billy, don't let that awful be me!

After a nerve-wracking journey, the Ice Prince and his impromptu escort finally reached the Lady's Tower. Out front, they found the usual brace of stalwarts, heavily armed with a pair of pistols tucked into their belts, their shields, and short-swords. "Hey," Billy greeted them. "I'm Prince William. The Lady of the Lake should be expecting me..."

The pair stared at him a moment, their eyes raking him from head to toe. That wasn't usually the greeting he got. These two knew him. He'd been here enough times both alone and in Kate's company.

"You know who I am," Billy grated. After a long few moments, the older man rumbled, "you're allowed to go up. These others stay here." "They can wait in the Lady's parlor," Bill retorted. When the younger man might have argued it, Billy growled, "don't push me." Blowing out a breath, the older soldier said, "alright. I'll send you up with escort."

The little group headed upstairs with a pair of guards watching over them. For his part, Billy was in turmoil, as his mind conjured up a number of dangerous scenarios for what this meant. Kate had a lot of enemies. There were any number of men and women wanting to replace her as Lord or Lady of the Lake. As he stepped off the stairs and into Kate's little parlor, the big man found himself face to face with one such.

His blue eyes locked with Cameron's green eyes, as he demanded, "where's Kate?" "She isn't here," the nymph retorted. When he might have strode forward to confront her, the two men who were guarding them blocked his way. "Stilt Town is under my command," Cameron growled. "For now," Billy retorted.

Her green eyes went wide. Coldly, Billy said, "Stilt Town is under my father's dominion. Technically I decide who the Lord or Lady of the Lake is." When one of the men fidgeted, his hand going towards his weapon, Billy bashed him in the throat with his elbow, dropping him on the hard, iron floor. An blade of ice at his throat warned the other man off any similar stupid moves.

Billy's eyes locked with the terrified guard's, and the two stared at each other for several minutes. A voice from the abyss called to him, suggesting ways he could avenge Katherine. Another voice interrupted. "Hey," snapped Black Cass! "Ain't come here t'fight yo war, big mon!"

Billy dropped the dagger and turned to face Cameron once more. "Don't you ever threaten or try to block me," Billy growled. "I can flatten the whole fucking thing. Do you understand me? I'll have an answer tomorrow morning, or..." The Master at Arms latched onto his arm, but she might as well have been pulling at a mountain.

Shaking off her grip, Billy turned and went down the stairs. The quartet of pirate girls fell in at his back, and within just a few minutes they were back on the street outside. Shouldering his bag once more, Billy stepped off. Shaking her head and muttering curses, Black Cass set off after him.

The big man went straight down the street to a large inn that sat there. As the pirates came into the common room behind him, Billy stepped up to the counter, put a bag of coins on the counter, and demanded a room. It was nothing like the gentleman that he usually portrayed. Still, the innkeep was used to far rougher custom. She handed him a key straightaway.

Shaking her head, Cass fell in behind, as Billy went up the stairs. Halfway up, Billy turned to face her, his expression stormy. "You've done what you were asked to do," Billy rumbled. Rolling her eyes, Cassie retorted, "ain't been paid, big mon..." As if Rags would cheat her. "My wife...," Billy started. "...ain't here," Cass retorted. "Ain't no chest here. But you're here." "Fine," muttered Billy. "Stay out of the way."

Kim takes a turn towards darkness, while Finn takes steps to mitigate the risks to family and friends. Meanwhile, Billy skirts the edge of madness. Hopefully, Black Cass can keep him in check until help arrives.